Germany’s Bilfinger Berger, together with its Danish partner Per Aarsleff, has secured a EUR 400 million ($598 million) contract for construction of the foundations at the new London Array offshore wind farm in the outer Thames Estuary.

The foundations for 175 wind turbines and two substations are being built at a distance 20 to 35 kilometers from the UK coast. Bilfinger Berger holds a 50% stake in the joint venture. The client is a project company comprising energy providers Dong Energy and E.ON, together with financial investor Masdar. The project participants have many years offshore experience and have worked together on several past projects.

The order includes the design, prefabrication and installation of monopiles up to 60 meters long. The steel pipes have a diameter of nearly six meters and the longest weigh almost 500 tons. They will be driven into the seabed at a water depth up to 25 meters. To connect the wind turbines to the foundations, they will be fitted with steel adapter elements, each weighing 400 tons.

London Array will be the largest offshore wind farm project in the world. When completed, 341 turbines will produce 1,000MW of electricity – enough to meet the needs of 750,000 homes or a quarter of Greater London.

Bilfinger Berger has a leading market position in the construction of offshore wind farms in the North and Baltic Seas. In conjunction with Per Aarsleff, the company has constructed foundations of the large-scale Danish wind farms, Horns Rev 2 and Roedsand 2.

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